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A 16-0 second quarter run sparked the Wauneta-Palisade girls basketball team (14-8) to a 46-38 victory over Chase County (5-17) last Tuesday.

Caught off guard by the length of the Horns’ zone, Wau-Pal struggled to find quality shots early. The Lady Broncs scuffled in the first quarter, as Chase County held them to no made field goals. WP’s only 2 points of the quarter came in the form of a pair of made free throws by Jenae Bischoff.

The Longhorns seemed to be in control of the game, scoring the first bucket of the second quarter to go up 15-2. Bethany Riener’s turnaround jumper in the paint with nearly half the second quarter gone was WP’s first basket of the night.

That was all it took to get the Lady Broncs going.

Shelby Hamilton (No. 32), at center, slaps hands with teammates as she’s introduced for her final home game as a Lady Bronco. (Wauneta Breeze Photos | Josh Sumner)

Riener got another inside jumper to go before teammate Shelby Hamilton sank a 3-pointer, as Wau-Pal pulled within 6 points. But they weren’t finished.

Wauneta-Palisade seized control of the game, dropping in easy lay-ups that were hatched from quick steals. A put-back off the offensive glass by Bischoff gave the Lady Broncos their first lead of the game, and Chase County found themselves down 18-15 at halftime.

Although bent in the second quarter, the Longhorns didn’t break. Instead, they bounced back in the third quarter, outscoring Wau-Pal 13-9 to take a 1-point lead into the fourth quarter. A game that started out with momentous scoring runs by each team had suddenly turned into a back-and-forth skirmish.

With the game on the line, Bethany Riener did what she has done so many times this year — she put her team on her back, refusing to let them lose. First came an inside cupcake that regained the lead for her team. Then, a comet from the corner that counted for 3. Riener and the Lady Broncs ran off a 9-0 run to open the final frame, as they put the Longhorns in the rearview mirror and blazed the trail to victory on their home court.

Riener finished with the team-high in points (21), rebounds (11), steals (7) and assists (4) in the ball game. Bischoff joined Riener as a double-digit scorer with her 10-point effort.

Maywood no match for WP

An otherwise lackluster evening of basketball was livened up by Parents’ Night last Friday, as the Lady Broncos stormed past Maywood (1-18) 82-33 in the WP girls’ most lopsided win of the year. Parents of Wau-Pal boys and girls basketball players were welcomed onto the court for a special ceremony in this, the final home game of the season for the Broncs and Lady Broncs.

The final game of the regular season was also the final home game in the careers of WP’s five seniors, Jenae Bischoff, Shelby Hamilton, Bethany Riener, Laura Rundback and Rebecca Strand. The seniors went out in style, combining for 48 points in the game.

Building a 30-6 first quarter lead ensured plenty of playing time for many of the Lady Broncs’ bench players. Eleven players found their way into the box score after scoring 2 points or more in the game.

It was win number 14 on the year for the Lady Broncos, who bounced back from a tough 0-4 start this season to go 14-4 the rest of the way.

Jayvee results

With the Wau-Pal junior varsity girls basketball team heading to Benkelman for the Dundy County-Stratton jayvee tournament this Saturday, they played their final two games of the regular season last week. WP stormed past Chase County 60-21 last Tuesday before knocking off Maywood 33-10 in 2 quarters on Friday.

Leading the way in scoring against Chase County was Tailor Lee with 17 points, followed by Jonee Maris’ 15 points, Emma Skelton’s 14 and Brooklyn Nordhausen’s 9. Nordhausen scored 11 points to lead scorers against Maywood, while Maris chipped in 10 and Lee scored 8.

Lady Bronco Jonee Maris, at left, stares down a Maywood defender as she grips the basketball.

Now, the Lady Broncs set their sights on a subdistrict title, with Hitchcock County (19-5) the only team standing in the way. The championship game for the D2-10 subdistrict crown is tonight (Thursday) at the Chase County High School gym, with tip-off set for 6 p.m. MT/7 p.m. CT.